KHL about to start

With the traditional replay of the final battle duel between Salavat Yulayev Ufa and Atlant Moscow Oblast the fourth season of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) begins on Wednesday, 7th September 2011. For first time the league will include a team outside the territory of the former Soviet Union; Slovak club HC LEV Poprad.

The KHL is divided into two Conferences – Eastern and Western. Each Conference consists of two divisions. The four divisions are named in honour of great players and coaches. Each team is going to play 56 games; four times against each team within the division and twice against the other teams.

Bobrov Division
SKA St. Petersburg, Head coach: Milos Riha (CZE)
Dynamo Moskva, Head coach: Olegs Znaroks (LAT)
Spartak Moskva, Acting head coach: Viktor Pachkalin (RUS)
Dinamo Riga, Head coach: Pekka Rautakallio (FIN)
CSKA Moskva, Head coach: Julius Supler (SVK)
HC LEV Poprad, Head coach: Radim Rulik (CZE)

Tarasov Division
Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, Head coach: Brad McCrimmon (CAN)
Atlant Moscow Oblast, Head coach: Bengt-Åke Gustafsson (SWE)
Severstal Cherepovets, Head coach: Dmitry Kvartalnov (RUS)
Dinamo Minsk, Head coach: Marek Sykora (CZE)
Torpedo Nizhny-Novgorod, Head coach: Kari Jalonen (FIN)
Vityaz Chekhov, Head coach: Andrei Nazarov (RUS)

Kharlamov Division
Ak Bars Kazan, Head coach: Vladimir Krikunov (RUS)
Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Head coach: Alexander Barkov (RUS)
Yugra Khanty-Mansiysk, Head coach: Sergei Shepelev (RUS)
Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk, Head coach: Alexander Smirnov (RUS)
Traktor Chelyabinsk, Head coach: Valery Belousov (RUS)
Automobilist Ekaterinburg, Acting head coach: Ilya Byakin (RUS)

Chernyshev Division
Avangard Omsk, Head coach: Rostislav Čada (CZE)
Salavat Yulayev Ufa, Head coach: Sergei Mikhalyov (RUS)
Sibir Novosibirsk, Head coach: Andrei Tarasenko (RUS)
Barys Astana, Head coach: Andrei Khomutov (RUS)
Amur Khabarovsk, Head coach: Hannu Jortikka (FIN)
Metallurg Novokuznetsk, Head coach: Anatoly Yemelin (RUS)

Looking through the rosters you can find a lot of famous hockey players. Most of them, of course, are from Russia. In second place is the Czech Republic with 36 players, followed by Kazakhstan (30) and Slovakia (28).

The odds-on favourite is SKA St. Petersburg with star players such as Patrick Thoresen, Evgeny Artyukhin and Maxim Afinogenov trained by Czech coach Milos Riha. Not far behind is Atlant Moscow Oblast, with great summer signings Nikolai Zherdev, Branko Radivojevic and, after 1302 games in NHL, Alexei Kovalev.


Evgeny Artyukhin, one of many stars with SKA

Winning the Gagarin Cup at the end of the season is also the goal of other top teams, such as Salavat Yulayev Ufa, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Avangard Omsk and Dynamo Moscow. CSKA Moscow wants to restore faded glory with Slovak coach Julius Supler. With the competitive balance in the league, there are other teams that have a chance to win as well.

TOP SUMMER TRANSFERS:
1. Jaromir Jagr from Avangard Omsk to Philadelphia Flyers
2. Alexei Kovalev from Pittsburgh Penguins to Atlant Moscow Oblast
3. Sergei Mozyakin from Atlant Moscow Oblast to Metallurg Magnitogorsk
4. Patrick Thoresen from Salavat Yulayev Ufa to SKA St. Petersburg
5. Aleksandr Frolov from New York Rangers to Avangard Omsk
6. Stefan Liv from Sibir Novosibirsk to Lokomotiv Yaroslavl
7. Denis Kulyash from Avangard Omsk to Ak Bars Kazan
8. Kirill Koltsov from Salavat Yulayev Ufa to SKA St. Petersburg
9. Nikolai Zherdev from Philadelphia Flyers to Atlant Moscow Oblast
10. Martin Thörnberg from HV71 (SWE) to Torpedo Nizhny-Novgorod

 

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